Chipping Away At Our Target.

Having had a short break from playing the game, it occurs to me (once again) that my issues are less about adapting to handle deficiencies in my tactics, and more about identifying them in the first place. That and recognising how much of any given problem is down to tactics and how much down to the quality of my players.

Given that I hadn’t played the game for two or three weeks, having left it during the winter break - and then played through the winter friendlies at pace, I decided to jump back in by attempting to view and analyse a full match to try and pick out the main points. Realistically what I probably need to do is view a few matches, potentially with different players occupying certain positions, and look for repeating themes - seeing something happen once or twice can probably be attributed to ‘luck’ but something happening more frequently is likely to be down to the player or the tactics; the latter, in particular, if it’s evidenced with different players in the same position.

I’d initially started the first post-break game in our counter style, but having reached half-time without much in the way of attacking play I’d switched up and watched us boss the second half to offset a two-goal deficit. Because of that, preparing to face Koln I lined up the best squad I could for our 4-3-2-1 shape and dived in.



We started well, with Norwood grabbing an early free-kick that I didn’t see any build-up for. Our first real attack came at the 5m 30s mark, and Buchel – occupying the ‘central winger’ role was clearly following the game plan. With fullbacks pushing on, the other two central players sit deeper to help cover the defence.

It was movement that I’d seen several times against our previous opposition, in the second half, and that’s what I’m looking to identify over the next two or three games. Our second goal provided another good example.

Torres is going to play a ‘through ball’ up the right channel and, when Micanski breaks wide to pick it up, is going to then cut inside to occupy the space left by the striker. Meanwhile Buchel, circled, will make a bursting run into the box from deep.

When Micanski drops the ball back to the Fullback (Klingmann) he’s got three options in the box – although the man on the far post doesn’t represent a decent ball at this time, the other two are open.

Buchel peels away again, taking a man with him, and Torres finishes the move that he started by receiving the ball before running on and smashing home from a tight angle.

It’s another example of exactly the sort of attacking threat I’m looking to create, and of Buchel getting into the box – albeit from a deeper position – to help draw defenders. That said, the attacking side is probably the thing I’ve showcased more of and whilst it still needs work, it’s probably the back where I can benefit most in the short term.

PROBLEM SPOTTING

“Luckily” for me it’s not long before I have something to ponder at the other end of the pitch. I’ve read suggestions that after a goal it may be advisable to tweak mentality for a short spell at least – I’ve not played with it much, but on reflection this game might have been a good one. Having gone 2-0 up inside 10 minutes, we promptly lost our lead inside a further fifteen. The first was a near-post header from a corner, something I need to keep an eye on as it seems the most common mistake that we make at set pieces, but the second is down to something more fundamental in our play.

I’ve mentioned previously that one of our central pairing will sometimes get pulled out of position and here it is again. It starts with a bit of head-tennis from a Koln goal-kick, Bijker (left fullback) trying to find Torres with a good defensive header.

Unfortunately Brecko gets there first, and drops the ball into the middle for Osako – but my concern here is Gordon, playing as a DC-D. On this occasion he does have a man sitting deeper – due to the preceding set-piece situation – but this isn’t an isolated incident. He’s committed to closing down now, but gets nowhere near as the killer ball is played through a huge gap.

The opposition striker still has to lose his man, and I could argue that it’s the second DC who ultimately allows the goal to happen – failing to make the tackle as they both race towards the box – but Gordon’s movement is what created the space in the first place.

I tweaked his instructions as a result, making him a DC-C, but even then the same sort of aggressive closing was evident. Whilst the full-time heat map showed him in a deeper average position to his defensive partner, it was the occasional charges that were the concern.

The Jamaican has the ‘Marks Opponents Tightly’ PPM which, along with a 14 Aggression rating, will be a factor. Mauersberger has the same PPM, but I would have to assume that a lower Aggression (12), along with a better Decisions and Composure rating (13 in both, compared to Gordon’s 11s), are factors in the difference in behaviour.

For the following game, at Dortmund, I switched Gordon out of the line-up completely, preferring to partner Mauersberger and Bauer. Of course the opposition and away venue were factors, but I never felt like the defensive pairing were getting as separated – vertically – as they did with Gordon.

Against Dortmund we look more cohesive at the back, with better discipline, despite a couple of heart-in-mouth moments where their vastly superior technical skills open us up at the back. There’s not a lot to analyse up front as aside from a couple of penetrating runs from Inside Forwards, both hitting the post, we’re mostly on the back foot. It generates a 0-0 draw though, and playing away against 1-2 favourites I’ll take that.

That result makes it three draws from three, after the winter break, and 24 points from 20 for us – still ahead of my pre-season target of a point per game. With fourteen to play I’m looking for another 10 points, and a couple of wins would go a long way to getting us there, but we'll keep chipping away - knowing that I still feel better about the game than I was during the early stages of the season.

Unfortunately no offers were forthcoming for Gordon before the transfer window closed, despite Crystal Palace’s long term interest. Unfortunate as it’s looking like he’ll be struggling to get a start given his tendency to rush out; Bauer is a younger player, and still learning, but he doesn’t have the PPM that the others do – and he rates higher than Gordon for Decision making. If Gordon does play then he’s on my radar to monitor that part of his game.


It's been a short update, but I'm trying to get some momentum again having been off the game for a while and I wanted to get something up on the blog. More soon, all being well, but in the meantime please feel free to feed back through the usual channels.